Enjoy special pricing on Plate 80 The Umbrella Tree, Magnolia, amplissimo flore albo, fructo coccineo, a richly hand-colored, densely engraved plate with abundant gum Arabic accents. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, third edition, revised by George Edwards, printed for George White, London, 1771.

Catesby added significantly to eighteenth-century natural history, introducing many of the plants he found in colonial America to Europe, and contributing more than 20 new plant species as well as over 70 bird illustrations to Carl Linnaeus' landmark work, SystemaNaturae.

Catesby's text description for this plate follows.

"These Trees are from sixteen to twenty Feet in Height, with a Trunc seldom above five Inches thick, the Bark of which is white, the Wood soft and spongy, the Leaves are usually thirty Inches in Length, and about five broad at the widest Part, they grow in horizontal Circles, representing somewhat the Appearance of an Umbrella. From the middle of one of there Circles of Leaves rises the Flower, which is white, composed of ten or eleven Petals, the three outermost of which are of a pale Green, and before the Blossom opens, encloses the rest of the Petals, and when the Flower is full blown, they hang in the Manner here represented. The Structure of the Ovarium, Seed Vessel, &c. so nearly resembles those Parts of the Magnolia altissima, that I conceive the Figures as they are here exhibited, without any farther Description, will give a sufficient Idea of them.

In Virginia I have never seen above two or three of these Trees, which grow at one Place; in Carolina they are more frequent, and grow in rich Land. They drop their Leaves at the Approach of Winter."

"This Plant grows about a Foot and half high; the Flower consisting of several Petala, with many yellow Stamina sourrunding the seed-vessel, which is oval, unicapsular, and contains many roundish Seeds. The Leaves of the Plant resemble the Aconitum lycoctonum luteum C.B. Pin. The Root is said to be an excellent Emetic, and is used as such in Carolina; which has given it there the Name of Ipecacuana, the stringy Roots of which it resembles. It flowers in March; the Fruit is ripe in May; which has occasioned it in Virginia to be called May-Apple."

This rare hand-colored engraving is in perfect condition with pristine original color; 13-1/2 x 20-1/2 inches.

A naturalist-explorer and self-taught artist who executed almost every aspect of this historic work, Mark Catesby (1683–1749) possessed a unique combination of talents. To publish his work, he learned the complicated process of etching from the print maker Joseph Goupy. From 1731 to 1747, The Natural History was published in two volumes of five parts comprising a total of 200 plates. The Appendix, which was compiled from specimens available in England, added 20 more. The artist George Edwards revised and re-issued both volumes from 1748 to 1756, and in 1771 the publisher Benjamin White reissued the Edwards version adding Linnaean names to all Catesby’s plants and animals. All editions have the same number of plates.

Mark Catesby traveled from England to the new world on a legendary discovery expedition a century before Audubon first published his work. Born in Castle Hedingham, Essex, England, to John Catesby, a lawyer, and Elizabeth Jekyll, the daughter of a prominent family, Catesby’s interest in the natural world began in childhood, when as a boy he was introduced to the renowned naturalist John Ray, who lived nearby and became an early influence. Catesby explains the forces that motivated him in the preface to volume I:

“The early Inclination I had to search after Plants, and other Productions in Nature, being much suppressed by my residing too remote from London the Center of all Science, I was deprived of all Opportunities and Examples to excite me to a stronger Pursuit after those Things to which I was naturally bent: yet my Curiosity was such, that not being content with contemplating the Products of our own Country, I soon imbibed a passionate Desire of viewing as well the Animal as Vegetable Productions in their Native Countries; which were Strangers to England. Virginia was the Place (I having Relations there) suited most with my Convenience to go to, where I arriv’d the 23d. of April 1712. I thought then so little of prosecuting a Design of the Nature of this Work, that in the Seven Years I resided in that Country, (I am ashamed to own it) I chiefly gratified my Inclination in observing and admiring the various Productions of those Countries, —- only sending from thence some dried Specimens of Plants and some of the most Specious of them in Tubs of Earth, at the Request of some curious Friends, amongst whom was Mr. Dale of Braintree in Essex, a skilful Apothecary and Botanist: to him, besides Specimens of Plants, I sent some few Observations on the Country, which he communicated to the late William Sherard, L. L. D. one of the most celebrated Botanists of this Age, who favoured me with his Friendship on my Return to England till the Year 1719; and by his Advice, (tho conscious of my own Inability) I first resolved on this Undertaking, so agreeable to my Inclination.

Catesby gained extensive knowledge of the new world on his first visit to the colony of Virginia from 1712–19. His return visit in 1722 was sponsored by William Sherard, Hans Sloane and others in the Royal Society. Landing in Charles Town (Charleston, South Carolina), for five years Catesby explored the wilderness, taking notes, collecting specimens, and making drawings that documented quadrupeds, insects, amphibians and reptiles, fish, birds, and plants. Whenever possible, he drew his subjects from life. Again, the preface to his monumental work provides insights into his painting of natural history subjects.

“As I was not bred a Painter I hope some faults in Perspective, and other Niceties, may be more readily excused, for I humbly conceive Plants, and other Things done in a Flat, tho’ exact manner, may serve the Purpose of Natural History, better in some measure than in a more bald and Painter like Way. In designing the Plants, I always did them while fresh and just gather’d: And the Animals, particularly the Birds, I painted them while alive (except a very few) and gave them their Gestures peculiar to every kind of Bird, and where it would admit of, I have adapted the Birds to those Plants on which they fed, or have any Relation to. Fish which do not retain their Colours when out of their Element, I painted at different times, having a succession of them procur’d while the former lost their Colours: I dont pretend to have had this advantage in all, for some kinds I saw not plenty of, and of others I never saw above one or two: Reptiles will live many Months without Sustenance, so that I had no difficulty in Painting them while living.”

For further information or to purchase, please call the gallery at 312-642-5300.

Connect with us

Joel Oppenheimer Inc. is located in Chicago’s historic Tree Studios. We are passionate about natural history art, offering superb examples of rare works by John J. Audubon, Mark Catesby, Alexander Wilson, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Dr. Robert Thornton, Basilius Besler, John Gould, Edward Lear, and other important natural history artists.